Liminal Space
by LadyDivine91
Summary: After the Not-pocalypse, Aziraphale's bookshop starts going through some changes. Aziraphale x Crowley


After the Not-pocalypse, Aziraphale's bookshop becomes a liminal space.

He doesn't mean for it to happen, it just does.

Something about the combination of his temperamental but cuddly demon constantly lurking about along with Aziraphale's newfound peace and contentment in the world (which causes him to stop consciously trying to turn customers away) changes the atmosphere. Reflecting that change, his shop begins to grow, bigger on the inside now than it looks from the outside, gaining about ten-and-a-half square feet or so every passing year.

He's still reluctant to watch a single book walk out of his shop, but he no longer focuses on making his store inhospitable. Gone are the musty odors, the intermittent cold chills and uncomfortable hot spots, the dim lighting, the occasional sensations of dread.

Once he does, his bookshop becomes a haven. A sanctuary.

For the lonely.

For the socially awkward.

For the abused and unwanted.

For the lost and confused.

For those seeking answers of all sorts, even if the questions haven't occurred to them yet.

After school lets out, study groups spontaneously erupt in the corners.

With the help of the books, the plants that nearly outnumber them, and the large snake that roams about, Girl Guides have earned numerous badges there.

Adults from all walks of life have wandered in, having misplaced their path, and leave with a newfound sense of direction.

Many an amateur photographer has found their muse among Aziraphale's collections of knickknacks and trinkets.

A book club meets there every Thursday night at 8:15 without fail, even though the members who gather rarely know one another, nor have they read the same book. They chatter and laugh, compare notes, trade novels and phone numbers, walking out Aziraphale's doors as soon-to-be lifelong friends.

Madame Shadwell stops by every full moon to do a reading. She says she prefers the clarity she finds there, Aziraphale's general location ideal during that time of the month for absorbing celestial energy while surrounded by the thoughts and words of dearly departed literary masters.

Besides, the cognac Aziraphale keeps on hand is to die for.

Aziraphale still doesn't post his hours, still tends to leave on a whim, take long lunch breaks and weekends off, but if someone shows up at his door, Aziraphale and Crowley are there, no matter the hour.

Numerous couples have met, and then later pledged their love to one another, among the shelves.

Customers have been known to travel hundreds of miles to get there, stand amid the stacks all day, and then leave empty-handed but enlightened.

In Aziraphale's shop, time takes a pause. It holds its breath. There's no past, no future. It's simply a place of waiting. Time will change you if you quiet your mind and give it the chance. But the reason for the waiting is different for each person who experiences it.

Waiting to come to terms.

Waiting to take a chance.

Waiting to make a decision.

Waiting for the right moment.

It's one of the reasons Aziraphale and Crowley spend so much time there, even though Crowley has a big, expensive flat for them both to call home. Moments are a big thing for demon and angel. In the end, even with all the books Aziraphale has collected and the expensive gadgets Crowley has bought, it's all they have to call their own. All they have that matters.

And they continue to make memories in Aziraphale's shop.

Warlock, Adam, Pepper, Brian, and Wensleydale have all celebrated birthdays there.

Madame Tracy and Sergeant Shadwell have marked off every wedding anniversary there in one way or another.

It's the first place Anathema and Newt dropped into after the birth of their baby.

And every one of them was present the afternoon Crowley finally got down on one knee and asked Aziraphale to marry him.

After their 'execution', the day Aziraphale and Crowley decided to forgo Heaven and Hell and spend the rest of their lives with one another, A. Z. Fell and Co. stopped being a bookshop and it became a home … to the world.


End file.
